Moors & Cabot Inc. Invests $366,000 in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,906 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EBAY. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in eBay in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of eBay during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in eBay during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in eBay by 115.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 836 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in eBay by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 839 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $65.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. eBay Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.52 and a 1-year high of $71.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

eBay Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. eBay’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on EBAY. StockNews.com raised shares of eBay from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of eBay from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on eBay from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays set a $72.00 price target on eBay and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded eBay from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, eBay presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jamie Iannone sold 5,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.38, for a total transaction of $350,887.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 542,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,825,430.24. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen J. Priest sold 5,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.63, for a total value of $334,184.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,141,040.40. The trade was a 7.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,524 shares of company stock worth $1,390,509 over the last 90 days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About eBay

eBay Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company’s marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps.